Domaine des Enfants was founded in 2006. More than half of the 23 hectares of vines were planted before the Second World War, and some of the vines were even planted over 100 years ago. From the beginning the intention was not only to make great wines, but to also preserve the cultural landscape and heritage of the region. We try to show other ways of cultivating using horses and plows instead of herbicides, exhausting handcraft instead of mere efficiency.
The owners work naturally yet in a most classical fashion, making wines from organic soil, with a terroir that has soul. They are realizing their dream – to be themselves, people around them and with nature. “The love and energy being invested in the care of our powerful and exceptional vines, gives us peace and satisfaction. To witness how these frugal plants thrive and gain strength due to our care, fills us with pride, and is an enormous gratification. With our work we want to use our creativity in order to create something extraordinary, which not only gives us and other people pleasure, but also brings everybody closer together. We hope that our wines will be able to present people with new ideas, imagination, and maybe even touch them on a deeper level. “
We really enjoy both the reds and the whites from the area, especially when Maccabeo is in the blend. The reds are interesting especially if you already like Rhone Valley wines. Here the translation of the poetic text on the label of L’Enfant Perdu: “Inside we feel empty. We exist, but do not really take part in life which gives us a feeling of unreality. The reason is that we lost the inner child, which leads to not having a connection with ourselves. The survival of our planet is dependent of our comprehension that we are all one. This feeling of being in unison with everything that is alive, we can only feel when we experience ourselves as an entity.”
Carrie explains L’Enfant Perdu is our secondary wine, without being a typical secondary one. The constellation differs each year, depending on which vineyards are chosen for our top wine, but it always contains all of our four types of grapes, namely Grenache, Carignan, Lladoner pelut and Syrah. Generally our secondary wine consists of two thirds grapes from our younger vineyards which have an age range from 10 to 50 years. Half of this wine is developed in French barrels holding 300-600l and the other half finds its place in concrete tanks.”
“The saturated inky colored 2014 IGP Côtes Catalanes l’Enfant Perdu checks in as a blend of equal parts Grenache, Carignan and Syrah, with a splash of Lladoner Pelut that was raised in equal parts barrel and tanks. Spiced plums, violets, mint and hints of chocolate, as well as an undeniable minerality emerge from the glass, and it’s rich, full-bodied and nicely concentrated on the palate. Despite all its size and richness, it stays fresh and pure, and is a sexy wine that will benefit from short term cellaring.” 91 points, Jeb Dunnuck for Robert Parker